Copyright 196? William Lewis Hine THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA GRADUATE COLLEGE THE INTERRELATIONSHIP OF SCIENCE AND RELIGION IN THE CIRCLE OF MARIN MERSENNE A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE FACULTY in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY BY WILLIAM LEWIS HINE Norman, Oklahoma^ 1967 THE INTERRELATIONSHIP OF SCIENCE AND RELIGION IN THE CIRCLE OF MARIN MERSENNE APPROVED BY - DISSERTATION COMMITTEE ACKNOWLEDGMENT Completing the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy is a long and painstaking process. During this time my parents have continually sustained and encouraged me. I owe them a debt of gratitude for their constant support and understanding. I would like also to express my appreciation to Dr. Brison D. Gooch for being willing to undertake the task of directing this dissertation. His decision was in large part responsible for the many ways in which my hori­ zons have expanded since I began my research. My thanks are due him for the valuable aid and encouragement he has given me. îfy wife Ellenor has likewise greatly aided me throughout the writing of the dissertation by her sympa­ thetic interest and constructive criticism. I would also like to remember Professors at the University of Oklahoma, my colleagues at Midwestern Uni­ versity and my many friends in Paris who have contributed in one way or another to my success in this venture. XIX PREFACE The idea for the subject of this dissertation came from a book by Richard S. Westfall entitled Science and Religion in Seventeenth Century England.^ Since this .topio =; combined two of my major interests, I looked for a similar topic in another period, or another country. While Westfall deals with England in the latter half of the seventeenth century, I found the first half of the century more inter­ esting, since this is the period when the "Scientific Revolution" begins. I chose that period, therefore, and moved the setting to France. Some way of limiting the topic for a dissertation had to be found, and since Westfall had chosen the members of the Philosophical Society of London, I adopted a similar approach. In the first half of the century there were two possibilities that could be explored. Two men established unofficial groups which encouraged the development of sci­ ence. Not only by their own interest in theory and exper­ iment , but, by corresponding with a great number of the eminent scientists of the day, they also acted as a clear­ ing house of ideas, taking the place of the scientific iv journals which later developed when scientific groups were officially established. Those two men were Father Marin Mersenne, in Paris, and Fabri de Peiresc, in Aix. Since Mersenne was more cen­ trally located, and was a member of a religious order, I decided to concentrate on him and on the group associated with him. Thus I chose to write about the influence of science on religion in the scientific group which revolved around Mersenne. Since Mersenne and his friends were prolific writers, I decided to concentrate on his published corres­ pondence (now in nine volumes of over 65O pages each) and on his books which throw light on the scientific develop­ ments of the day and are filled with information gleaned from friends and from his own wide reading. As the publi­ cation of Mersenne's correspondence has not yet been com­ pleted, I referred to the manuscript collections of his letters as well as to his manuscript books. I made no attempt, however, to read exhaustively all of this unpub­ lished material, since this would only duplicate the work of his editor. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page PREFACE ..................................... iv Chapter I. INTRODUCTION ............................... 1 II. ATHEISM AND ITALIAN NATURALISM ........... 29 III. GENESIS AND SCIENCE ......................... 65 IV. RENAISSANCE MAGIC AND D E I S M ................ 99 V. ALCHEMY, SCEPTICISM AND ARISTOTELIANISM . 133 VI. THE FLUDD-MERSENNE CONTROVERSY ........... I59 VII. GALILEO AND THE NEW SCIENCE ................ l8? VIII. CONCLUSION ................................. 216 BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................... 22? VI CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION The Scientific Revolution is one of the most significant periods of change in the history of ideas. "It outshines everything since the rise of Christianity and reduces the Renaissance and Reformation to the rank of mere episodes, mere internal displacements, within the system of medieval Christendom."^ In this revolution the whole world view of man underwent a basic change. The great medieval synthesis was breaking down. During the Middle Ages, scholars had built upon the knowledge of antiquity, especially upon the great system of Aristotle, and used it as the foundation for their own thought. Into this system Aristotle had incor­ porated almost all branches of knowledge; - physics, astron­ omy, biology, metaphysics, ethics, and even poetics. Medi­ eval scholars had taken over this knowledge, and fitted it together with the Christian religion to form the system known as scholasticism. In scholasticism, religion and 1 Herbert Butterfield, The Origins of Modern Science (New York: MacMillan Company, 1956), p. viii. 2 science, faith and reason complemented and supported each other. Dante's Divine Comedy illustrates this synthesis. By the l6th century, however, this great system was beginning to crack. Certain weaknesses in Aristotle's science, such as his discussion of projectile motion, had always been criticized, but by the l6th century attempts were also being made to remedy deficiencies in the scholas­ tic explanation. Some were trying to do this by returning to the "original" Aristotle. The medieval synthesis had been made possible by the removal of those elements of Aristotelian thought that did not fit togather with Chris­ tian theology. Consequently any attempt to restore these elements led to charges of atheism. Others sought explan­ ations in various kinds of neo-Platonism. Still others chose scepticism and the feeling that nothing could be known with certainty. By the beginning of the 17th century, even those who wanted to remain orthodox were beginning to feel that the scholastic synthesis needed revising. Copernecus had taken the earth out of the center of the universe and made it simply another planet circling around the sun. With one blow he had not only destroyed the special position of man in the center of the universe, but had wiped out the dualism of a heavenly realm of perfection and a corrupt and changeable realm below the sphere of the moon. Although there were good reasons for not accepting this new view, it 3 still raised questions that were difficult to answer, especially when outstanding scientists began to adopt it and make use of it to explain other phenomena. In spite of this rising criticism of the scholas­ tic system during the l6th century, the new movements had not yet produced a sufficiently solid body of theory to replace the medieval Aristotelianism. During the years 1619-16251 this breakdown was felt in French intellectual 2 life as a "crisis". Vanini was burned at the stake as an atheist, a certain Frontanier was burned at the stake in Paris for teaching some occult or mystic doctrine, and a leading poet, Théophile de Viau was banished from Paris also on charges of atheism. In 1624 the Parlement of Paris forbade the teaching of new doctrines by some anti- Aristotelian alchemists. Despite this unfavorable climate of opinion, however, Pierre Gassendi published in the same 3 year, a book attacking Aristotelian thought. This "crisis" was "a symptom of a much more general crisis through which intellectual life was passing. It is the transformation that marks the beginnings of modern times. The collapse 4 of medieval teaching was becoming unmistakable." 2 J . S . Spink, French Free-Thought from Gassendi to Voltaire (London: The Athlone Press, I96O), pp. 5-6. 3 Pierre Gassendi, Dissertations en forme de para­ doxes contre les Aristotéliciens, trans. Bernard Rochot (Paris: J. Vrin, 1959)» ^Spink, op. cit. , p. 6 . 4 There were several alternatives that could have been adopted in place of the faltering scholasticism. Aristotelianism was being refurnished as the medieval alterations were rejected by the exponents of Italian Naturalism. There was also a Neo-Platonistic trend which had incorporated ideas from Hermeticism and Cabalism. Ihia view made much use of demonic powers of nature and ways of manipulating and influencing them. Some of these same ideas were used in alchemy in an attempt to form a chemical explanation of the world, although they were said to be derived from experiment. For those who were discouraged at the loss of a once satisfactory explanation of the world, and found the newer attempts inadequate, there was scepticism, which was revived in this period, and had several outstanding exponents. Springing out of all of this confusion, however, was a chain of thought that we identify today as the origins of modern science. A few men were developing ideas that are considered today the foundation of modern science. The beginning of the 17th century was, then, a period when significant changes in the world of ideas were being made, and when a confus­ ing array of explanations was being offered. The most significant area of intellectual life in the Middle Ajges had been religion. Every branch of know­ ledge had been subordinated to theology, the queen of the sciences. The influence of ideas on religion was of prime 5 concern even during the Renaissance, and especially dur­ ing the Reformation. Thus scientific explanations were obliged to fit in with the religious conception of the world. New theories were attacked by religious thinkers because of the harm, or supposed harm, that they might do to religion. This conflict between the two is the usual understanding of the relationship between science and religion. In some cases, however, religious ideas, as we shall see, actually contributed to the development of modern science, a fact that is less well known.